<p>live4physics: I’m multi racial, (30% white, 30 % Asian, 10% Latino of all races, 20 % black, 10% other).
I just decided not to reveal my race, because otherwise, I would have had to check nearly every race on the common app.
And AA is less about race and more about socio-economic factors. Rich black kids who have the socio-economic status of the regular suburban Asian (sorry for stereotyping) don’t have a significant advantage.</p>
<p>Guys, cut the OP a break! He or she just wants to focus on the objective, clear-cut stats, and take ONLY those into account! Do you have to challenge everything?</p>
<p>I doubt that Harvard would want to take people who think that affirmative action is wrong. Harvard (and many other colleges) considers it an effort of social justice.</p>
<p>^ Then good think there’s no space on the CommonApp to demonstrate your beliefs on it.</p>
<p>I don’t get it. Why apply to Harvard if you dislike their policy?
And ^^ if all they did was take the top scorers, we’ll have colleges nearly half Asian. That’s ridiculous. And it’s called socio-economic factors. You can’t compare the Oregon farm boy to the boy at Stuyvesant High School. You can’t compare the poor black inner city boy who has no opportunities to the rich suburban kid in NJ. Numbers don’t reflect intelligence.
I say someone locks up this thread. If you don’t like AA don’t apply to colleges that use it. Why would you want to go to a college where you don’t like the admissions process?</p>
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<p>You don’t have any rights in the college application process, regardless of your ethnicity. The only thing you can demand in exchange for the application fee is that your application be reviewed–the outcome of said review is not up to you. Private universities can decide whom to accept based on whatever criteria they choose, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about that. Except boycott Harvard by not applying there. Actually, why don’t you do exactly that?</p>
<p>^^ The primary reason to attend a school is to, shockingly, take advantage of its curriculum and LEARN. That’s certainly more important than the quality of its admissions process. Obviously, Harvard provides one of, if not the most, superior educational experiences in the world. And that’s why I’d want to go. End AA!</p>
<p>^Okay then. But then you have no right to complain about admissions. You’re not entitled to anything.</p>
<p>I do have the right to complain about admissions.</p>
<p>Let me rephrase. If you’re applying to a college and you know they have policies you don’t like, then you have no excuse for complaints.</p>
<p>You’d want to go to a school whose ethos and school mission, which are reflected in its admission policies, you disagree with? Because it “obviously” provides a “superior educational experience”? Don’t you see how this educational experience might be influenced by Harvard’s admission policies?</p>
<p>In fact, to appal you further, I’ll tell you that most universities, Harvard included, actively seek to recruit more black and female faculty members. So when you go to Harvard, you may be taught by professors whose appointments were influenced by their race and gender, in addition to their academic credentials. Isn’t this just dreadful? Affirmative action for teachers as well as students? How can these people provide the superior educational experience you’re talking about? Please explain.</p>
<p>I am female. I fully respect women and blacks as philosophers. I just don’t respect Harvard’s choice to admit unqualified applicants due to THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN. Harvard is a great school. Their motto is “Veritas,” not “We support Affirmative Action and that’s all we teach about in our curriculum!” Stop trying to challenge everything, 'kay?</p>
<p>How is AA social justice?</p>
<p>If we reversed it and gave Chinese and Caucasians a boost in the admissions process, people would go crazy.</p>
<p>It’s reverse racism. Tell me how I’m wrong if you think so.</p>
<p>^ Exactly! It’s racism, period. Discriminating against a certain sect of people on the basis of their race. And don’t tell me it’s about socioeconomic status: my friend was telling me about a girl who goes to this ritzy private school in my area who got into Columbia AND Brown with only a 33 ACT. I was surprised, but come to find out - she’s black. I’d find it hard to believe if she was white. This mere circumstance demonstrates the corruptness of this system. I don’t support Affirmative Action, however, seeing as almost all schools practice it at this point in time, I’m not about to let the fallacies in their admission process get in the way of the quality of their degrees when I make the decision of which school to attend.</p>
<p>Beatlesdisturbed:</p>
<p>I don’t usually get into these AA flame wars but these preferences are often not socioeconomic as you may hope. There is no doubt that the wealthy URM, given every preference and advantage that elite secondary education provides, is given preference in the admissions process over the lower middle class ORM candidate. Holistic admissions processes were specifically designed in the 1920’s to refuse admissions to the most “academically qualified” candidates in order to balance out a class with regard to ethnicity and exclude jews. Take a look at Jerome Karabel’s book “The Chosen - The hidden history of admission and exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton”. Now that balance includes gender, geography, EC/athletic prowess, and ORMs.</p>
<p>^^ 33 ACT is a great score for Brown and Columbia, that’s in the upper middle range. Anyways, if you don’t like AA, start lying about your Ecs</p>
<p>^ The reason it’s in the middle is BECAUSE OF Affirmative Action! URMs are admitted with sub-par scores, while Asians and whites have to get 34+ in order to compete simply because of their race!</p>
<p>And YaleGradandDad makes good points.</p>
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<p>You respect them as, um, philosophers when the color of their skin plays a role in their appointments, but you don’t respect them as students? Even when they get into Columbia with a 33 on the ACT, which is above Columbia’s average ACT score?</p>
<p>Your arguments are nonsensical.</p>
<p>Also, “Asians and whites” account for 70% of Columbia’s student body, so even if everybody who benefited from affirmative action had lower scores than every white or Asian person, a 33 on the ACT would still put this student above half of Columbia’s white/Asian admits, seeing as it’s very close to the 75th percentile.</p>
<p>Not to mention the fact that TEST SCORES AREN’T EVERYTHING. God.</p>
<p>I don’t respect them as students when they’re UNQUALIFIED, just as I’d not respect an unqualified Caucasian male! I respect them as philosophers and mentors when they ARE QUALIFIED, just as I respect Caucasian male professors. Race/gender should have no influence in someone being qualified. My arguments are very sensical. Sorry you’re too ignorant to accept that.</p>